Greek Tragedy or Arab Spring Drama: Why Greece Belongs in the Middle East

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Image 1 of 16: Greece: "The spoilt child of Europe" might fare better in the Middle East among spoilt company in nations who are used to turning to the economically stronger GCC states when times are rough. Saudi or Qatar have been known to bail states in distress out before.

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Image 1 of 16: Greece would be in good company in the Mideast where debt is a minimum requisite for entry. The EU is not the best fit since one nation's economy can take down others. In the ME it doesn't matter if you're economically unstable, defunct or even if you're a military junta - there's a place for you in the Arab League. No risk of economic contagium.

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Image 1 of 16: Lebanon boasts its 'European' features, though maybe less its debt-failing: Lebanon, beleaguered by wars, has practically collapsed in on itself debt-wise. Not unlike Greece's debt meltdown.

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Image 1 of 16: Syria as we know it has a distinct lack of 'democracy' under a dictatorship, now culminating in crisis with the leader killing his people who cry out for - at the very least- for reform and a new constitution that eradicates corruption.
Greece is in crisis too. But at least it's not a violent or politcally civil war type.

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Image 1 of 16: "Let them eat cake": From Egypt's basic bread price woes to Greece's pitta bread panic: Greeks have been subjected to harsh conditions (austerity cuts) in order for the Europeans to bail them out. Families protest they can't feed their children. High unemployment means people can't afford the luxuries to which they may have once been accustomed.

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Image 1 of 16: Jordan teacher unions protested for a few weeks, striking for salary raises and annual bonuses in February this year. In Egypt, union rallies and strikes spilled into the general protests that took out Mubarak. Labor actions really boosted Egypt's mass protest. In Greece, trade unions have been staging protests over austerity cuts.

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Image 1 of 16: Sunny work schedules: Whether due to a desert culture of work (according to the sun's intensity) that involves regular breaks & mid-day rest, to the Mediterranean work ethos that is more relaxed with the habit of siestas, or midday naps, Greece shares a stop-start work culture with the Arab world. Some Muslim countries stop at prayer intervals.

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Image 1 of 16: Yemen's Qat habit: In Yemen, people enjoy a 'tranquilized' culture of chewing the 'qat' (the recreational but accepted daily drug of choice) in the course of a day. Mediterranean Europe has their active clubbing axis, (from the Greek islands, through Cyprus's Ayia Napa, to Spain's Ibiza) another drug-friendly scene - it's no secret.

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Image 1 of 16: Greece might be a better fit with the Sudanese drowsy work environment, if we recall Germany's slating open letter:
from the German tabloid, Bild, to Greece's PM George Papandreou: "Germany also has high debts but we can settle them. That's because we get up early and work all day."

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Image 1 of 16: Predilection to Protest: The Arab world has demonstrated its propensity to flare up and protest. Could that Mediterranean hot-blood seen in Greek protests be better placed in the Middle East than in the EU where Mediterranean culture is diluted with colder North European reserve?

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Image 1 of 16: Arab anger goes Greek: Mohamed Bouazizi, the Tunisian man whose burning lit the Arab fire, was swiftly followed by others in different continents. One Greek man decried his debt as he poured gasoline over himself, burning drastically before being rescued.

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Image 1 of 16: Iraq, once the beacon of civilization as Ancient Mesopotamia, has been riddled with economic & political problems
starting with sanctions and ending in civil-war. This oil-rich, now bankrupt, country cannot enjoy its own spoils.
Greece, home to the ancient ruins, tells of how the mighty can fall, in view of modern day Greece's financial 'ruin'.

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Image 1 of 16: "Day number 10.001 and still nothing has changed": The Greek patience, like the Egyptians, after protesting their hearts out (in the Greeks' case struggling to keep it 'austere') starts to wear thin. Like comments we saw in Tahrir on banners, the Greeks are leaving their opinion in graffiti or on placards.

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Image 1 of 16: Imitation is the best form of flattery: The Arabs would extend a warm welcome to the Greeks, if for nothing but for their tunes. While Arabs are known for their penchant for Turkish soap, it turns out they've got a thing for Greek music too. A Greek song rendered into Arabic by Iraqi singer Saif Shaheen is adapted Greek song, 'Macabai'.

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Image 1 of 16: Greeks & Arabs make a song & dance of it: Greek dancing resembles the way of Arab folk-dance 'dabke'. Greek dancing traditionally takes place in weddings, tavernas, and joins people together as they huddle and whirl in a crescendoing frenzy. The Dabke - in its variations across the Arab world - joins people, by linked hand, at weddings & parties.

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Image 1 of 16: Greek diet seals the deal: This humus loving nation is dietarily bound to the Mideast. Both 'humus' & Greek yoghurt (Arabic 'labaneh') are Mediterranean foods native to the Arabs as well as the Greeks. In the West, humus goes by the label 'Greek dip'. A shared cultural drink bond: Ouzo's counterpart Middle East anise beverage is 'Arak'.

As Greece meets the second stage of its bailout conditions, achieving a winning debt or bond-swap that has scored it some Euro points, we ask the question whether, in spite of Greek's firm bid to remain entrenched in the Euro, it should consider a 'swap' of a fundamentally different kind.

While Euro-ministers are set to meet tomorrow, Monday 12th March, to officially sign off on Greece's second bailout, we entertain the idea that Greece not be more at home in the Arab lands, trading Europe for the Middle East?

Just on Friday, 9th March, France's Premier announced that Greece's crisis was over. The sense was that the 'problem like Greece' was now officially solved, or at least no longer the conundrum it had once posed. "Today the problem is solved," French President Nicolas Sarkozy said.

A Greek financial voice chimed with some self-congratulations: "I would like to say how happy I am that a solution to the Greek crisis, which has weighed on the economic and financial situation in Europe and the world for months, has been found."

Not without some reservations even today by Greece, with its Trade Unions out in protest, opposing the participation of pension funds in the debt-swap deal between the Greek state and private bond holders, Greece was mainly on board; relieved that its voyage to keeping its chains anchored down in Europe was secured again.

Still, until recently, Greece with its continental scale debt crisis was not feeling all that welcome in Europe. Its membership in the European Union had felt under-threat ever since the bailout operation began. Plus, slammed as the less than flattering epithet of 'the spoilt child of Europe', Greece could do well to shop around for other options. Other geographical affiliations or regions. Other 'Middle Eastern' states have had flexible regional affiliations when it comes to membership and definitions. Israel has for a long time held its place as a contender in the "Eurovision" Song Contest.

Looking at the alternatives to continental Europe, Greece might be in good company in the Middle East, where countries are not held to account for their individual short-comings. Or for their co-dependency issues. Syria has come to depend on intra-regional Lebanon's Hezbollah and Iran. Palestine has for a long time now turned to its Arab neighbors for support or received it unsolicited. Lebanon has been bailed out by neighbors in the past, particularly the Gulf states. Bahrain has been able to count on neighboring Saudi for relief in times of security threat. The Arabs do not pretend to share their wealth or bind their economic fates together, and the Arab League as of yet has no plans for a joint currency.

Greek Tragedy to become a Middle East Drama?

For socio-cultural and 'economical' reasons, it could be argued (if facetiously at least) that Greece might be more at home in the Middle East than Europe. Greece, after all, shares something of an affinity with at least some of the Mediterranean-facing Middle East (and North Africa) nations, where, controversially-stating, the only markers of qualifying are to be in a state of ongoing decline.

Criteria to belonging to the Middle East-- going by the existing members' qualifications

- International Debt

- Weak currencies (some currencies are pegged to the dollar)

- A whole plethora of diverse political parties. But only a few rise to power.

- Religion controlling political life

- Belonging to the Eastern Churches

-Religio-Fanaticism and / or sectarian identity with militias doing the bidding of the state

-Having a long-time sworn enemy -- (Israel)

-Restricting freedom of speech particularly on line

-Inadequate natural resources along much of the Levant, or the Arab Eastern Mediterranean

-Dependency on tourism

-Military state, or big spender on military expenditure

- Mediterranean Arab shared culture

- Diet is olive oil and humus-heavy, with flat-breads

- High unemployment - youth unemployment is at an all-time record

- Corruption

- Tendency to coups

- Unresolved, long-term crises

How would Greece qualify? A few striking examples

- Heavily in debt

- The Greek orthodox church is deeply involved in politics, and in turn is protected by the State.